EEC -- The Challenge from Europe;

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WHAT IS TOUCHE ROSS INTERNATIONAL?
munications. in today's complex multinational environ­ment,
no one can possibly know all the answers, and the
wise professional makes regular use of all research facili­ties
and data banks available to him.
The last and most elusive resource of the professional is
the utilization of his time. In all international engage­ments,
the firm constantly strives to balance and blend
the time and experience of its professionals to provide
adequately for planning, performing, and controlling the
professional procedures and administration. The cohe-siveness
of an international organization is critical to the
effective planning and execution of engagements, and our
new management organization greatly strengthens our
capacity to serve.
What achievements will louche Ross International be able
to point to in the future as a result of this latest reorganiza­tion
of its structure?
The primary one will be more qualified people in all of
our offices. When you have established a requirement, as
we have under our Policy Agreement, that admission of
a partner in Melbourne, Manchester, Chicago, or Madrid
requires the approval of our board of governors, you are
telling each young professional that to become a partner
he must have an exposure and an outlook that stretches
beyond his national boundary. The result will be a new
generation of partners who will think of themselves as
part of Touche Ross International, not just of the Canadian
firm, the Lebanese- firm, or the United States firm. They
will seek opportunities to move from one operating en­tity
to another, and the multinational character of our
practice will take on a new dimension.
Through the exercise of strong, central leadership, we
will be able to focus our resources where they are needed.
This means that throughout Touche Ross International, we
will be able to grow faster and provide superior service.
Each of the operating entities will have the full support of
TRI in the development of its territory, and together, we
will match our development with the development of
multinational business. The steps we are taking now to
build an effective professional capacity in Kuwait and Abu
Dhabi in the Middle East are an example of the potential
for the reallocation of resources to meet our changing
international environment. I am very excited about the
potential for a truly multinational public accounting firm
that can turn both the growth of international trade and
a preference for nationalism to its advantage. 6
EEC-THE CHALLENGE
FROM EUROPE
By WILLIAM R. S. RITCHIE,
Chairman, Board of Governors, TRI
When Britain, Ireland, and Denmark joined last year, the
European Economic Community—the Common Market-became
the most populous market in the developed world.
Serving more than 250 million consumers, it is today a
bigger market than either the United States or the Soviet
Union, and is the world's largest overseas trader.
If the Common Market's size and purchasing power
establish it as an economic giant, however, its full potential
will not be reached until the nine member states move
closer to industrial and financial integration.
Population and overseas trade, in other words, are not
everything. Europe, long fragmented into warring nations,
has a good distance to go before it can match the United
States in output per head, in standard of living, and in
sophistication of business methods. The per capita income
of Americans is around $5,000 a year, for example; of Eu­ropeans,
$2,500—half as much. In terms of primary energy,
another measure of economic strength, the United States
uses around 10 tons of coal equivalent a year per head; the
EEC only 2 tons—one-fifth as much.
At present, therefore, this still fragile union hardly quali­fies
for the role of political super-power in which some of
its more hot-headed enthusiasts seem to have cast it. In­deed,
a measure of modesty is fitting here, for it is only a
generation since the countries of western Europe all but
destroyed themselves as free people living in reasonably
affluent societies.
Anarchy and collapse were prevented in the post-war
years by a generous and forward-looking America. The
Marshall Plan envisaged the European countries drawing
up their own program for revival and then acting in unity.
The program should, in General Marshall's own words, be
"agreed to by a number, if not all, European nations."
So began the move to western European unity. Belgium,
Luxemburg, and the Netherlands formed the first eco­nomic
union, as the Benelux nations.Together with France,
West Germany, and Italy, they set up a common market in
coal, steel, iron ore, and scrap in 1952. In 1958, they
merged their separate national markets into one trading